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Courtesy of Oral History Research Office Columbia University The Courtesy of Oral History Research Office Columbia University The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History roject WILLIAM W. LEHFELDT Interviewed by: William Burr Initial interview date: April 29, 1987 Copyright Columbia niversity TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in California U.S. Army - World War II (eorgetown University and Harvard University Entered the Foreign Service Early Assignments Diplomatic courier 1,5. AID program - Afghanistan 1,52-1,55 Bilbao0 Spain - Consul 1,55-1,51 State Department - Washington0 DC 1,51-1,21 Buenos Aires0 Argentina - etroleum Officer 1,21 Cordova0 Argentina - Consul 1,22-1,23 State Department - Washington0 DC - ersonnel 1,23-1,22 Naples0 Italy - rincipal Officer 1,22-1,21 Economic Counselor - Teheran0 Iran 1,2,-1,13 Iran lan Organi5ation Embassy ersonnel and Duties Ambassador Douglas 6acArthur III Ambassador Farland - 1,12 Ambassador Helms - 1,13 Contacts in Iranian (overnment The Shah Economic Conditions U.S. policy towards Iran Ni8on diplomacy CIA operations U.S. interests 1 U.S. petroleum operations O EC Teheran Agreement - 1,11 9ohn Irwin mission Oil company negotiations with Iran St. 6orit5 Agreement - 1,12 Arab boycott of U.S. - 1,13 :Recycling: of oil country revenues U.S.-Iran 9oint Economic Commission Ni8on 1,12 visit U.S. military supplies U.S. banking presence Bankers' Conference Iran's economic situation - 1,2,-1,1. E8-Im Bank financing U.S. arms sales U.S. Embassy assistance Commercial :pay-offs: Shah's anti-corruption policy U.S.-Iran Chamber of Commerce U.S. concerned over Iran's arms spending Communications facilities (rowing criticism of Shah - internal and e8ternal Teheran0 Iran - Vice resident0 (eneral Electric 1,13-1,18 6ilitary aircraft Nuclear energy industry Investments in consumer products Iran-U.S. Chamber of Commerce - members U.S. Embassy officers - 1,11-1,18 (rowing corruption and instability Rastakhi5 arty Economic conditions deteriorate Law for E8tension of Industrial roperty David Rockefeller (roup (rowing U.S. presence 6ossadegh and U.S. involvement Reaction to Carter election Ambassador Sullivan rime 6inister Amou5egar replaces Hoveida Carter visit - 1,11 Anti-Shah demonstrations Sharif-Emami Shah's illness Black Friday 2 Riots in Teheran Evacuations Causes of revolution Communist involvement? INTERVIEW ": The following interview with William Lehfeldt, by William Burr, took place in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1987. The interview is part of a joint project by the Columbia niversity Oral History Office and the Foundation for Iranian .tudies. I have some /uestions about your background, first. Where were you born and raised0 LEHFELDT: I was born in Livingston0 California0 raised there0 went through high school there. ": Where did you receive further education0 LEHFELDT: Well first I went into the U.S. Army for three years during the war. That's where I received a lot of education. Then after I got out I went to (eorgetown University School of Foreign Service for the purpose of getting into the diplomatic service0 which I did. I started in 1,5. as a diplomatic courier0 then went to United Nations Affairs and then finally passed the Foreign Service e8am in 1,52. ": .o you were at 1eorgetown in the late 1920s0 LEHFELDT: Aes. 1,31 through 1,5.. ": Back to the War. Where were you stationed during the War0 LEHFELDT: I was in the infantry in Europe. ": What were some of your diplomatic assignments during the 1950s0 LEHFELDT: I started out on loan to the AID program in Afghanistan0 primarily0 well I was the only administrative support for the mission director0 and at times I even acted as mission director. ": Was that the International Cooperation Administration, the ICA0 LEHFELDT: oint IV. 3 ": .o that was the Technical Cooperation 5Administration6. LEHFELDT: Technical Cooperation--TCA. ": And after Afghanistan0 LEHFELDT: After Afghanistan I moved on to Bilbao0 Spain as Vice Consul and then Consul. Then went to Harvard for graduate economic studies at the Littauer Center0 (the glove manufacturersC0 which is now the 9FD School of ublic Administration. After that I came to Washington to the Office of South Asian Affairs where I was first on the India- Ceylon-Nepan desk0 and later on the Afghanistan- akistan desk. ": What kind of work did you do77just general political and economic, military0 LEHFELDT: Well0 I'm the last of the old time generalists0 I'm afraid. In South Asian affairs I was the political desk officer for Ceylon and Nepal and an assistant for India. Later I was the economic desk officer for Afghanistan and akistan0 although there was very little difference at that time. From there I went to Argentina0 to Buenos Aires0 as petroleum officer0 where I stayed for about a year and then moved up country0 to a city called Cordoba0 where the revolutions begin (one almost started recentlyC0 to open a consulate. ": This in the early 1980s0 LEHFELDT: Early si8ties0 mid si8ties. I left there in 1,23 and came back to Washington as chief of Latin American personnel. Which I did for a couple of years0 and then moved on to Naples0 Italy as deputy principal officer. What do you think that prepared me for? Five years as economic counselor in TehranE FlaughsG ": Actually, you had to be a generalist0 LEHFELDT: Aes. ": .o what circumstances led to the assignment in Tehran0 Was it your choice0 LEHFELDT: No. It was the farthest thing from my mind0 but Nick Thacher0 who was the DC6 FDeputy Chief of 6issionG0 and Armin 6eyer0 who was ambassador0 both knew me and I should say since I guess they had a hard time finding anybody any better0 they took me. ": What time of the year was this0 LEHFELDT: This was in the summer of 1989. ": 9eyer was leaving, actually. 4 LEHFELDT: Aes. 6eyer departed by the time I got there. But Nick was there0 and then Doug 6acArthur came. ": What were your general duties as economic commercial counselor0 LEHFELDT: Well0 we still had the residuals of the aid program to work with and try to clean up. 6y then financial officer0 the late Ed rince0 and I along with Ambassador 6acArthur and the then head of the lan Organi5ation0 6ehdi Samil--who is in London now--did the last review of the Iranian economy that was called for by our US-Iran agreements0 aid agreements. It was rather perfunctory by that time. It was embarrassing to both of us. We had no aid program0 we had no reason to meddle in their economy by then. ": What was the name of the Plan Organization official0 LEHFELDT: 6ehdi Samil. S-A-6-I-L. Other duties were reporting generally on the developments in the Iranian economy. I had a petroleum officer0 civil aviation officer0 financial officer0 a whole raft of commercial officers0 including a commercial attachH. We tried to cover the waterfront. ": Did your duties change over time0 LEHFELDT: Well0 to the degree that we had no aid responsibilities yes0 they did change. To the degree that the commercial responsibilities were accented more0 and we added a trade center in Tehran0 yes they changed. But not markedly. ": Did you do any work on arms sales issues, for example economic aspects of arms sales, or... LEHFELDT: To some degree. We did a good deal of analysis on debt service ratios because in the early 1,1.s0 that was the hallmark of how much the nation could stand. We had sort of a rule of thumb that if they used over twenty percent of their foreign e8change earnings to service their debt then they were at the limit0 outside limit. Those parameters have changed these days. ": These arms sales were planned in to the Ex7Im bank >Export7Import Bank? credits0 LEHFELDT: E8-Im bank credits in those days0 yes. ": Who were some of the people who worked in your office0 Who worked on petroleum issues, for example0 5 LEHFELDT: First0 there was Bob Dowell. He was succeeded by 9ohn Washburn0 who in turn was succeeded by David aterson. David was still there when I left the embassy in 1,13. ": Who was the finance officer0 LEHFELDT: Finance officer first was Ed rince. Then Ale8 Rattray0 who's now Consul (eneral in Frankfurt. He was succeeded by Walter Lundy0 who is in African Affairs now. Walter was the man that when I left he in turn was succeeded by the fellow who's presently ambassador in araguay--I can't remember his name. FClyde TaylorI ": Did you have any Iranian nationals that worked for you0 LEHFELDT: Aes we had primarily0 well0 we had two in the economic section. (utshab Bakhtian and0 oh what was the name of the other one? I guess the rest of them worked in the commercial section. Bakhtian was the only one who really worked for the economic section. In the commercial section we had Ishmail (hobadi0 Ike irna5ar0 David Dashani0 6rs. 6elikian--I'm sorry. That's not quite right0 but it's Arpik and--oh my word. Why is it their last names don't come to me? But they won't right now. ": You had a number of nationals0 LEHFELDT: Aes we did. ": They did research jobs0 LEHFELDT: Research jobs and on the commercial side they did an active job in preparing WTDRs--World Trade Directory Reports--distributors lists0 contact lists. They would often times go out with American businessmen0 just accompanying them on calls and serve as translators0 although that was above and beyond the call of duty. ": Besides the ambassador, leaving the ambassador aside for now, who were some of the influentials at the embassy outside the economic section. LEHFELDT: Well always0 of course0 the political counselor and the DC60 who in my first days there was Nick Thacher and the political counselor was 9ack Armitage.
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